1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to exercise apparatus and more particularly to exercise apparatus that is adapted to simulate cross country skiing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While many types of devices and apparatus have been developed and utilized through the years for assisting an individual in obtaining desired exercise and particularly cardiovascular exercise, it has only been in recent years that the importance of such exercise has been fully appreciated. As a result, numerous types of equipment have been developed to exercise various parts of the body. In some cases, the equipment is designed to develop muscular strength but in other types of equipment the goal is directed more to cardiovascular benefits and such exercise equipment is commonly referred as aerobic exercise equipment.
Most exercise specialists acknowledge that cross country skiing is one of the best forms of aerobic exercise in that both the arms and the legs are utilized thereby more quickly obtaining an elevated heart rate while obtaining and maintaining good muscle tone throughout the body. For this reason, many types of equipment have been developed in an attempt to simulate cross country skiing so that cross country skiing movements can be performed in an indoor environment.
There have been numerous cross country ski simulating devices developed for indoor use such as for example those illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,077 to Stropkay and U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,981 to Norton. The devices disclosed in these two patents include a pair of foot support platforms adapted to guide the feet in a linear reciprocatory manner while independent hand manipulated means are provided for simulating movement of ski poles. In each device, however, there is no operative connection between the foot and hand movements and for that reason the devices have proven difficult to use. Due to the difficulty of coordinating the hand and foot movements, individuals will spend hours and sometimes days trying to learn how to use such an apparatus and in many cases where the apparatus is located in a public exercise facility, the embarrassment will prevent an individual from continuing to use the apparatus.
To avoid the shortcomings of the apparatus disclosed in the Stropkay and Norton patents, cross country ski exercise devices have been developed wherein the movements of the feet and arms are coordinated by mechanical linkage so that as one foot moves rearwardly the associated hand moves forwardly. In fact, in some of these devices, foot supporting platforms themselves are mechanically linked so that as one foot moves rearwardly the other foot moves forwardly. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,786 issued to Rodgers and Canadian Patent No. 490,720 issued to Denison. While the devices disclosed in these patents overcome the coordination problems inherent in the aforenoted patents, it will be appreciated that the exercise motion provided by a device wherein the arms and legs are operatively interconnected for simultaneous movement at equivalent speeds which is biomechanically incorrect and will create a very jerky motion which is not necessarily enjoyable and is difficult to maintain over a long period of time. Further, the jerking movement might cause bodily damage as opposed to a smooth fluid motion which is obtained in natural cross country skiing.
It is to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art devices and to produce a device that more closely resembles cross country skiing that the present invention was developed.